"Alex Woodward" wrote
Bob, you seem to have a quite a bit of experience of water gardens and
water lilies, whereas I only dug and planted my first pond 1 year ago. The
marliacea carnea started to push up quite large pads straight away last
year (I planted in mid June '04) however, they never bloomed. Do you think
I can expect this lily at least, to show it's true colours this summer? I
would truly like to see my pond in mid summer looking similar to a picture
postcard. Any chance you think?

For those that don't know, N. marliacea "Carnea" is a strong growing pink
flowered hybrid with large dark green leaves.
In it's second season it should be strong enough to flower but even then it
will get better every year until it needs repotting. Some say repot every
few years but my Gladstoneana has not been repotted for a decade and still
it thrives but then it does have lots of nutrients from the large fish it
shares the pond with. :-) However I think it may need splitting up soon.
Water lillies do need sun to flower, some demand full sun and others can
make do with a few hours daily, if your pond is in shade you will not get
many flowers if any.


By the way, what do you mean by a 'forced plant'. I am not an experienced
gardener by any means, therefore this term is lost on me.

Grown in a polytunnel or under glass (in heat) to force the plant into
growth earlier than it normally would.

Oh, and if you are interested in water lilies look up the French hybridiser
Joseph Bory Latour-Marliac. (he made you plant in the 1860's) who took his
knowledge to his grave.

--
Regards
Bob
In Runnymede, 17 miles West of London